Resources

This webinar will introduce participants to the Self-Assessment for Modification of Anti-Racism Tool (SMART), an innovative self-directed quality improvement tool developed by the American Association for Community Psychiatry (AACP) to assist community mental health organizations in addressing structural racism. The presenters will describe the process by which SMART was developed, including its grounding in input from community mental health providers and existing health inequity frameworks. The domains and items of SMART as well as its application process will be outlined. Presenters will also provide lessons from on-the-ground applications of SMART in diverse community mental health settings.

Participants will be able to:

• Describe the relevance of and importance of addressing structural racism in the community mental health setting
• Understand the 5 domains of the Self-Assessment for Modification of Anti-Racism Tool (SMART) tool, including literature evidence supporting the selection of SMART’s domains and items
• Understand the on-the-ground experience of applying SMART in diverse community mental health settings

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Speaker Information

 

Offered in partnership with New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS) and Community Access. 

This webinar will discuss the history and future of the Soteria model, an evidence-based alternative to acute hospitalization for persons experiencing psychiatric crises. Soteria provides intensive support in a communal residential setting with emphasis on humane interactions and understanding.

Replications of the Soteria model have been few and far between since the remarkable success of the original Soteria experiment, spearheaded by Loren Mosher and Alma Menn in the 1970s. Recently, a wide-ranging renewal of the Soteria model has taken place in Israel with very positive outcomes.

The need for alternatives to police intervention and hospitalization for crisis stabilization, has led to a development of short term residential facilities in many US states. Following the success of the Parachute Project, New York State has been a pioneer in promoting the establishment of such residential alternatives with an eye on further expansion. This discussion will consider how the Soteria model would be uniquely impactful in New York State.

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Speakers:

Pesach Lichtenberg | Founder, Soteria Isreal; Psychiatrist based in Jerusalem

Voyce Hendrix | Director, Soteria San Jose (1976-78); Social Worker, St. Paul, MN

Yana Jacobs | Counselor, Soteria San Jose; Social Worker, Santa Cruz, CA

Daniel Bergner | Contributing Writer, New York Times; Author of Upcoming Book – The Mind and the Moon – My Brother, the Science of Our Brains and the Search for Our Psyches

Elan Cohen | Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate and Former Peer Specialist with the Parachute Program

Peter Stastny | Psychiatric Consultant; Co-Founder of International Network Towards Alternatives and Rights-Based Supports

Offered in partnership with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership. 

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The fruit of a lifetime of expertise and a global quest for answers, Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health is a hopeful, actionable account and achievable vision for us all in this time of mental health crisis.

Dr. Insel, former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, left his position atop the mental health research world to investigate all that was broken—and what a better path to mental health might look like. He found that we do have approaches that work, both in the U.S. and globally. Mental illnesses are medical problems, but he discovers that the cures for the crisis are not just medical, but social. This path to healing, built upon what he calls the three Ps (people, place, and purpose), is more straightforward than we might imagine. Dr. Insel offers a comprehensive plan for our failing system and for families trying to discern the way forward.

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Offered in partnership with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership. 

The term co-production refers to a way of working where service providers and users, work together to reach a collective outcome. The approach is value-driven and built on the principle that those who are affected by a service are best placed to help design it.

Co-production is an approach to decision-making and service design rather than a specific method. It stems from the recognition that if organizations are to deliver successful services, they must understand the needs of their users and engage them closely in the design and delivery of those services. 

Co-production rejects the traditional understanding of service users as dependents of public services, and instead redefines the service/ user relationship as one of co-dependency and collaboration. Just like users need the support from public services, service providers need the insights and expertise of its users in order to make the right decisions and build effective services. In practice, it means that those who are affected by a service are not only consulted, but are part of the conception, design, steering, and management of services.

Using real-life examples, this interactive discussion session will share learning from the theories, tensions, challenges and benefits of co-production in health practice and research. Among other areas, we will collectively discuss power inequalities, lived experience vs data to inform decision-making, and ethical considerations. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the theories and policy drivers of undertaking co-production in health research and services.
2. Consider the real-life implementation challenges of co-production in practice within current health systems and contexts. 
3. Develop an understanding how leaders can support co-production in future healthcare.

Speaker Information

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Struggling with workforce shortages? Curious about truly integrative bio-psycho-social-soulful care? Wondering how to integrate peers or coaches into your services?

Open Source Wellness (OSW) is an Oakland-based nonprofit with a mission of transforming health care and health outcomes in partnership with communities.

OSW can be understood as a “Behavioral Pharmacy,” delivering on the “Behavioral Prescriptions” that primary care, specialty care, and behavioral health providers offer to their patients who are struggling with (or at risk for) behaviorally-mediated conditions including depression, anxiety, social isolation, diabetes, and hypertension. OSW partners with clinical providers and payors to deliver its experiential “Community As Medicine” model, achieving striking clinical patient outcomes and generating revenue for FQHC’s and other clinical delivery systems. Utilizing culturally-relevant health coaches and peer leaders to support diverse and transdiagnostic populations, OSW represents a next-generation behavioral health solution and a new way of organizing clinical delivery services.

Links:

• To learn more about the experiences of and recommendations for developing equity-grounded leaders and prioritizing health equity stemming from Region 3 behavioral health leaders, see the report, Equity as a Foundation for Leadership: Experiences and Recommendations for Behavioral Health Leaders.
• Presentation Slides

Description:

Leaders must embody equity as an operating principle – as a mindset – to transform behavioral health systems. 

Late in 2021, Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 3 leaders were asked to share their experiences and perspectives on equity as a foundation of leadership. In a diverse region with nearly 31,000,000 people, clear racial disparities exist on key indicators of health equity. The consequences of these disparities are far-reaching and not only affect the health and well-being of individuals receiving care, but also of the behavioral health workforce.  

On March 1, 2022, the Central East Addiction Technology Transfer Center (CE-ATTC), funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and operated by The Danya Institute, released a report describing and defining Equity Grounded Leadership for use by behavioral health leaders in Region 3 states. This report, developed by The College for Behavioral Health Leadership (CBHL) in partnership with Just Health Collective, LLC and Prevention Institute, builds on the Danya Institute’s ongoing efforts to improve diversity, increase cultural competency, and address population-specific needs of people receiving and delivering behavioral health services in Region 3. While developed based on the experiences of Region 3 leaders, the recommendations are applicable to leaders across the country.

This webinar offers an overview of the report development and outcomes, key takeaways for organizations and communities, and a description of and discussion about the importance of equity-grounded leadership.  We will also seek your feedback on what is needed next to support equity-grounded leadership in Region 3.

Speakers:

Oscar Morgan, Project Director, Central East Addiction Technology Transfer Center

Oscar Morgan is the interim director of the Danya Institute where he is responsible for the management, growth, and development of the Institute and has primary responsibilities for supervision of the Institute’s personnel. He is also the Project Director of the Central East MHTTC where is responsible for the programmatic and administrative coordination of all training and technical assistance (T/TA).

His background includes serving as the Mental Health Commissioner for the State of Maryland, where he expanded the workforce from a static capacity of 200 providers to more than 3,000, and established a self-governed, peer support organization throughout the state. He brings more than 35 years of experience in the mental health and substance use service fields, with expertise in providing evidence-based and culturally and linguistically competent services, trauma-informed programs, mental health and substance use organizational systems, and program integration.

He was an author of The National Action Plan on Behavioral Health Workforce commissioned by SAMHSA and has written articles on health equity and provided T/TA on emerging policies and trends affecting the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness for providers and stakeholders in the 50 states and territories.

He holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Masters of Health Service Administration from George Washington University. Mr. Morgan also has a Certificate of Public Health Leadership from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Jei Africa, Director, Marin County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services

Dr. Jei Africa, PsyD, MSCP, CATC-V, Director of Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) at the County of Marin, is an innovative thought-leader and clinician who is passionate about integrating effective culturally responsive practices into the core functioning of County health services. Dr. Africa has over 2 decades experience in the areas of behavioral health, trauma, health equity and diversity. He maintains also consulting and private psychotherapy practice in the Bay Area.

For over a decade, Dr. Africa served as the Director of the Office of Diversity and Equity with the San Mateo County Health System where he led agency-wide efforts addressing health equity that received State recognition. He spearheaded the development of the first-ever multi-disciplinary behavioral health LGBTQ+ community center, led the health system’s change efforts to enable the collection of SOGI data for all patients, and was instrumental in the opening of a transgender health clinic. Prior positions include: Clinical Director at Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse and Manager of Youth Treatment Services at Asian American Recovery Services.

In addition to his professional work, Dr. Africa was appointed to serve as a founding member of the San Mateo County LGBTQ Commission (2014-2017), and currently volunteers with Alliance for Community Empowerment (ALLICE), an all-Filipino organization offering free education on healthy relationships (2007-present). He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and at the Mabuhay Health Clinic, a free student-run clinic affiliated with the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF). He was a member of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities Regional Health Equity Council (RHEC) IX, previously served as a Senior Research faculty member at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University and a fellow with the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) Leadership Institute.

Jei Africa holds a Post-doctoral M.S. degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology, a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology, and an M.A. degree in Clinical Psychology from Alliant International University/California School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Africa received an undergraduate degree from the University of the Philippines in Behavioral Science.

Kathy Poston, Chief Engagement Officer, Just Health Collective

With a career spanning more than 25 years in healthcare, Ms. Poston has extensive management consulting experience leading engagements and managing client relationships.

Ms. Poston partners with executive and senior leaders to advance their health equity and belonging initiatives by providing management consulting and delivery services as well as concentrating on sales and business development.

In addition to a more recent focus on health equity and belonging, Ms. Poston has deep financial and operational experience with matrixed healthcare systems, specifically focused on physician enterprises. Areas of expertise include large scale physician enterprise assessments, management and operational redesigns, patient access and clinical workflow improvements and physician compensation plan redesigns.

Ms. Poston serves as a thought leader around women’s leadership inclusion and advancement issues.  She also serves as an ally in the advancement of people of color, having served as a member of several business resource communities in support of a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Prior to joining Just Health Collective, Ms. Poston was a Managing Consulting at Berkeley Research Group and previously held roles at Optum Advisory Services, a UnitedHealth Group company, legacy Advisory Board Company. Ms. Poston’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Ruben Cantu, Associate Program Director, Prevention Institute

Ruben Cantu is an Associate Program Director on Prevention Institute’s Safety and Wellbeing Team. He has more than 20 years of nonprofit experience in public health and mental health and wellbeing through an equity and racial justice lens. At PI, he leads initiatives to address and prevent community trauma through application of PI’s Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience framework. He also works on strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing through a focus on community conditions. This recently included managing the Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys initiative, a national community of practice comprising 13 sites across the U.S. implementing upstream, community prevention strategies to build resilience among men and boys of color and military service members, veterans, and their families. He is the primary author of California’s strategic plan for reducing mental health disparities and serves on several state advisory committees.

Hosted in partnership with the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors (NACBHDD).

Description:

One year into a new administration. Two years into a behavioral health pandemic within a lingering COVID pandemic.  Three opportunities to address the needs of our communities.

A dialogue to look a year ahead in behavioral health policy for three issues being addressed by communities throughout the country:

• Implementation of 988 and crisis system transformations
• Supporting workforce mental health and addressing burnout
• Addressing mental health needs of children and youth

Pre-reading:  We Must Confront Difficult Policy Questions in the New Year

Panelists

Jonah C. Cunningham

Jonah C. Cunningham currently serves as President and CEO of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors (NACBHDD).  In this role he proactively advocates for national policies that recognize and support the critical role counties play in caring for people affected by mental illness, addiction, and developmental disabilities.  In this capacity he also serves as Executive Director of the National Association for Rural Mental Health. 

Prior to joining NACBHDD, Jonah worked at Trust for America’s Health, a public health think tank, where he focused extensively on ways to reduce mortality from substance misuse and suicide.  Additionally, he worked as a congressional staffer for several years in the office of Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano (CA) where he helped to reestablish the Congressional Mental Health Caucus and created a Suicide Prevention Task Force within the Caucus. 

Jonah C. Cunningham has received numerous awards and recognition for his commitment to the field of behavioral health and those served by the nation’s behavioral health system. Jonah has a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Utah and a Master of Public Policy from The George Washington University.  In his free time, he enjoys learning how to cook and is an avid Jiu-Jitsu practitioner.

Dr. Ron Manderscheid

Ron Manderscheid, Ph.D., has a life-long commitment to social-justice, particularly racial, gender, and health equity. This is reflected through a career that spans national work with the Congress and Administration, federal agencies, NGOs, and university teaching.

He serves currently as Adjunct Professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, and the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California. Until recently, he was President/CEO, National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors and National Association for Rural Mental Health. Both organizations represent county and local authorities in the DC community.

Concurrently, Dr. Manderscheid serves on the boards of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the National Grand Challenge for Social Work Initiative, the Danya Institute, and the NASMHPD Research Institute. He also served until recently as the Co-Chair of the National Coalition for Whole Health.

Past appointments include Director of Mental Health and Substance Use Programs at the Global Health Sector of SRA International and several federal leadership roles at the National Institute of Mental Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of HHS. Throughout his career, he has emphasized and promoted the concerns of peers with behavioral health conditions and their family members.   

Dr. Manderscheid was a Member of the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Healthy People 2020; the Clinton Healthcare Reform Task Force; President of the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association (FEIAA) and Foundation; Chair of the APHA Mental Health Section and Governing Council, and a member of the post-9/11 Work Group; Chairperson of the Sociological Practice Section of the American Sociological Association; President of the Washington Academy of Sciences and the District of Columbia Sociological Society; and President of  The College for Behavioral Health Leadership.

He edited eight editions of Mental Health, United States, co-edited Outcome Measurement in the Human Services, and contributed to Public Mental Health, First and Second Editions. He also published more than 500 papers on services to persons with mental illness and substance use conditions. He serves on several editorial boards and prepares a periodic blog for Behavioral Healthcare Executive (www.behavioral.net).

Marcellina Melvin

Marcy Melvin joined Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute in April 2018. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas with over 18 years of experience developing and implementing mental health programs, systems, and procedures in primary, secondary, and post-secondary educational settings. She is a child, adolescent, and family-trained. Ms. Melvin has over 25 years of experience in providing direct clinical and supervisory services to children, adolescents, parents, and young adults in various clinical settings: residential, in-home, outpatient, private practice, primary, secondary, and post-secondary locations.

While at Meadows Institute, Marcy led the American Red Cross Texas CARES grant and supported the Texas CARES-Training grant. These grants helped to support the mental and behavioral health needs of teachers, students, and their families along the Gulf Coast that were impacted by Hurricane Harvey. She assisted in leading a comprehensive environmental scan of the child welfare services in Harris County. She assisted in the financial analysis of the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department MST program. In addition to these projects, Ms. Melvin helped develop a Mental Health Strategic Framework for Region 4 ESC. She also co-led the Rebuild Texas Dickinson Independent School District project. She was instrumental in developing and delivering curriculum for early childhood teachers, local early childcare center/daycare center staff, and parents in Dickinson ISD. The trainings were intended to improve the social-emotional health of young children. Marcy has taken the lead on creating Meadow’s Institutes strategic framework that incorporates health equity into policy work, and she supports the implementation of these strategies across the organization.

Ms. Melvin has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana and a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Fisk University.

Tony Muñoz-Hilliard

Tony Muñoz-Hilliard is a New York Certified Peer Specialist (NYCPS) and National Certified Peer Specialist (NCPS) who firmly believes in the power of lived experience. Tony uses the challenges he has navigated in his own life to inspire hope in others and illustrate that recovery and whole-health wellness are indeed possible, despite mental illness, substance use and/or difficult life circumstances.

Tony has lived experience with major depressive disorder and substance use, and uses his training in Intentional Peer support (IPS) and the Need-Adapted Treatment Model (NATM) to support and provide trauma-informed care to peers. Tony also works on a mobile treatment team in New York City and is a peer advisor for the Public Psychiatry Fellowship of New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University Medical Center. He has presented nationally and internationally on topics such as peers on interdisciplinary teams, peer workforce, trauma and social determinants of health.

Tony is currently a student at SUNY Empire State College, where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and is a trained video producer with Manhattan Neighborhood Network, which allows him to incorporate the arts in his recovery process.

Dr. Marvin Southard

Dr. Marvin (Marv) Southard is the former Director of the largest county-run mental health services organization in the United States, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH), with a budget approaching $3 billion, serving more than a quarter of a million persons annually that supports innovative co-located services within schools, courts, other County departments, and various community organizations.

In this role at LACDMH, Marv assembled a ground-breaking team that accomplished creative and inclusive work with communities including regional mental health urgent care centers, crisis response teams, children and older adult systems of care, Health Neighborhoods, and partnerships with faith communities to further social justice.

Marv has focused his career on empowering healthy urban and rural communities to strengthen recovery from mental health and substance use challenges. He served for a decade as a leader of community behavioral health services in East Los Angeles. Marv also founded substance abuse treatment centers and served as a clinical director and leader of numerous organizations, as well as acting in another county government leadership role as the Kern County Director of Mental Health. 

On leaving government service, Marv continued to serve communities, mental health organizations, and governmental entities as a consultant and Professor of Practice at the University of Southern California (USC), where he developed the Professional DSW degree program, mentoring the next generation of community service leaders.

Hannah Wesolowski

Hannah Wesolowski is Chief Advocacy Officer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Hannah and the entire Government Relations, Policy & Advocacy team work with advocates, partners and NAMI leaders to enact policy change that will improve the lives of all people affected by mental health conditions. She believes in the power of advocates sharing their stories to advance research, increase mental health funding, improve access to care, expand social supports and decriminalize mental illness.

She came to NAMI in 2017 with more than a decade of experience in advocacy, joining the NAMI team after five years at the Public Affairs Council to help associations, corporations and nonprofit advocacy groups build government affairs efforts programs. She previously led political advocacy efforts at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the American Institute of Architects.

Hannah grew up in New Hampshire and has a B.A. from New York University, where she also earned an MPA from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Access the slide deck here.

Offered in partnership with the New York Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation (NYAPRS) and Humannovations.

Lived experience of crisis and peer support can be incredibly valuable when people are experiencing ‘crisis-level’ emotions such as suicidal intensity. Dispensing with stigmatizing and dehumanizing language related to these experiences is a crucial first step, altering clinical and law enforcement practices that feel more like punishment than care is also crucial. Peer specialists and peer empowerment values need to be effectively integrated as supports in intense situations as well. But structural resistance, risk aversion and stigma have prevented anything like widespread involvement of people with lived experience in crisis or suicide prevention programming.

Given that the peer empowerment model developed in reaction, at least to some degree, to coercion and dehumanizing  experiences associate with interventions when people were at their worst moments, how can the value of shared experience and peer support work in a new system of crisis care, such as envisioned through the 988 transformation?

The key to successful integration of “peer crisis support” is a set of core practices and skills that provide people with lived experience with distinctive competencies for supporting peers in these moments and settings, and the opportunity and confidence to employ them. Ie the practical transformation of lived experience into lived expertise for crisis support.

In this session we will present a comprehensive approach to bridging peer support values and practices to support in crisis services and settings, including core skills for encountering threat of violence and suicidal intensity. The presenters will outline the details of one model of advanced ‘peer crisis support’ training (Growing Through) and provide discussion on the integration of these practices from the point of view of both public mental health and suicide prevention fields.

Participants will learn:

• An approach to bridging peer support values and practices for ‘encountering intensity’ with peers.
• Trauma-informed reframes of clinical terminology for humanizing the experience of crisis and struggles
• A set of peer crisis support core competencies, including support for suicidal intensity

Speaker Information

Eduardo Vega is an internationally recognized thought leader in recovery-oriented programs and policy, consumer/patient rights, stigma reduction, and suicide prevention, whose work continues to drive the forefront of change for public health and mental health worldwide. He is founder and CEO of Humannovations, a consulting and training firm providing innovative solutions for mental health and suicide prevention internationally, fueled by social justice and the “lived experience” of people who have been there. Clients of Humannovations include the World Health Organization, Asana, the White House Office of Science & Technology, the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Movember Foundation, Suicide Prevention Australia, the International Bipolar Foundation, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Facebook and more.

A former Fulbright Specialist and California State Commissioner for Mental Health Services, Vega has led and served on multiple health policy bodies and as an invited expert to the Office of the White House of President Obama. He has presented and consulted on technical issues in behavioral health with stakeholder and consumer groups, private industry and government in the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Fiji and Latin America. He serves on the the Steering Committee of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the US National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

For his transformative leadership Vega has been recognized by the United States Senate and the United States Surgeon General, the State of California, the nation of Fij. He holds an M.A. in Psychology from New School for Social Research.

Access the slide deck here.

Offered in partnership with the New York Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation (NYAPRS) and Humannovations.

While much progress has been made to develop a modern array of ‘crisis services’ including mobile crisis units, hospital diversion programs and ‘crisis call centers’ through and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network, the integration of people with lived experience of suicide and crisis as peer support providers, though, has been slow to advance.

Peer support can and should play an active role at many points in the transformation of crisis response systems, including those driven by the national 988 line initiative. This presentation will address several questions:

• Where and how these get integrated is the key question.
• How can ‘crisis’ services connect with the empowerment foundations of peer support?
• How does peer support look and feel different at times of intensity?
• How can lived experience be meaningfully connected with when things like self-harm and suicide are present?

The presenter covers the array of these issues, while presenting key concepts for program and policy change, grounded in the values of dignity and recovery, to humanize the issues in the practical work of ‘peer crisis support.’

Speaker Information

Eduardo Vega is an internationally recognized thought leader in recovery-oriented programs and policy, consumer/patient rights, stigma reduction, and suicide prevention, whose work continues to drive the forefront of change for public health and mental health worldwide. He is founder and CEO of Humannovations, a consulting and training firm providing innovative solutions for mental health and suicide prevention internationally, fueled by social justice and the “lived experience” of people who have been there. Clients of Humannovations include the World Health Organization, Asana, the White House Office of Science & Technology, the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Movember Foundation, Suicide Prevention Australia, the International Bipolar Foundation, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Facebook and more.

A former Fulbright Specialist and California State Commissioner for Mental Health Services, Vega has led and served on multiple health policy bodies and as an invited expert to the Office of the White House of President Obama. He has presented and consulted on technical issues in behavioral health with stakeholder and consumer groups, private industry and government in the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Fiji and Latin America. He serves on the the Steering Committee of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the US National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

For his transformative leadership Vega has been recognized by the United States Senate and the United States Surgeon General, the State of California, the nation of Fij. He holds an M.A. in Psychology from New School for Social Research.